Etihad Airways to fly to North America by end of this year

DUBAI — Etihad Airways, UAE's national carrier will start flying North American routes by the end of this year, said Ian Ferguson - Brown, Head of Marketing yesterday at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM).

By Babu Das Augustine

Published: Wed 4 May 2005, 10:51 AM

Last updated: Thu 2 Apr 2015, 5:02 PM

Etihad's North American operations will begin with flights between Abu Dhabi and Toronto. Currently, the airline is building basic infrastructure including offices in Toronto. Speaking to Khaleej Times yesterday Brown said Etihad will fly more than 20 destinations by the end of this year.

Starting from June 18, the airline will commence daily flights between Abu Dhabi and Frankfurt, Germany. This new addtion to the airline's European network was unveiled at the ATM. Frankfurt is Etihad's second German destination after Munich.

Commenting on the launch of Etihad flights to Frankfurt, Dr Shaikh Ahmed bin Saif Al Nahyan, Chairman of Civil Aviation Department in Abu Dhabi and Chairman of Etihad Airways said, “The addition of the Frankfurt route to Etihad's expanding global network demonstrates our commitment to providing guests with greater access between Europe and the UAE. Frankfurt, Germany's business and financial centre, is an important addition to Etihad's growing network and builds on the airline's strategy to connect Abu Dhabi with the world's major hubs.”

In addition to the route expansion currently underway to the European market, Etihad has plans for new destinations in Asia including Manila. Currently it flies to Colombo, Bangkok, Mumbai and New Delhi. “Our Mumbai and Delhi routes are extremely successful and we expect to add more flights to these destinations as we expand our operations,” Brown said.

Etihad Airways currently flies to 16 destinations in the Middle East, Europe and Asia and has an ambitious strategy to increase this number to 70 destinations by 2010.

The airline also announced the expansion of its all-cargo services from Abu Dhabi with the introduction of a second regional freighter, an Airbus 310-300F. The airline will expand its network of cargo destinations on scheduled and charter flights in the region. Etihad is currently developing new destinations in Europe, Africa and Asia. “Abu Dhabi is an ideal geo-strategic hub connecting East and West, for both passenger and freighter services. This expansion of Crystal Cargo services supports and reinforces Etihad's strategy to position Abu Dhabi as the regional link for cargo and passenger services between the Middle East, Asia, Europe and North America” Shaikh Ahmed said.

In January Etihad Crystal Cargo took delivery of its first Airbus A300-600 regional freighter, and is now further extending operations by upgrading its services with the addition of this new freighter. The second regional freighter, an Airbus A310-300F, has a payload of 38.5 tons and will operate on new routes including Milan, Addis Ababa, Khartoum, Almaty and New Delhi on both scheduled and charter flights.